Comic resolutions I'm not making

I'm not a big fan of New Year's resolutions in any case. I do, at the end of the year, take some time to think about where my life is, what I might want to improve on, how I might lead a better life. But as for the traditional resolution--the "I will quit smoking" or "I will vacuum the living room every day"? I don't think they work; rather than promoting introspection, they set up an absolute pass-or-fail state of mind where one slip-up means you might as well drop the entire thing for another 363 days. (BTW, I don't smoke and never have, and the living room has a hardwood floor, so those are not real life examples. :))

But if I were inclined to resolve, these are some of the things I might consider resolving, and some of the reasons I actually wouldn't do it.

1. Bag and box my comics instead of leaving them in piles.

As a teenager, I was awesome at the comic sorting. I didn't have bags, but I put each week's comics in their appointed spots, pretty much as soon as I'd read them.

Of course, as a teenager I had (a) way more time on my hands, and (b) no one to share the books with. The husband often doesn't get around to catching up for a month or two (or three) so, instead of putting them in the long boxes, I leave them in the bag they came in after I've read them. So they're not, usually, in falling-over piles, but they are in piles. I don't really see a change in this as long as some people neglect their literature...

Of course that doesn't explain why they stay in their stacks after everyone has had their turn reading. That part remains a mystery.

2. Fix the broken action figures.

It's true, what people say--if you take your toys out of the box, sooner or later someone's arm is going to fall off. We've got a number of heroes in need of repair, and while duct tape may make them somewhat playable again, it doesn't really do the trick.

The problem here has to do with my own skill set, which does not include action figure technology. I've tried to research the subject, but the only information I've been able to find has had to do with making custom figures, which is awesome in its own right, but less applicable than you might think to fixing what you've already got. I also suspect that a repaired figure would be less sturdy than it was before "the accident," which is a consideration.

As it stands, we have a number of figures who are in dire need of medical attention, and I'm actually interested in learning how to do this (hell, I learned how to put new hair in Barbie dolls a few years back, and that's about as tedious as you get!), but I'm not at all confident that I wouldn't just make the situation worse.

3. Get my comics from my LCS instead of online.

Being as we don't have a LCS, I don't have to worry about this one.

We kind of had one a number of years ago, before the kids came along--a guy had a shop in his basement, and it was great if a bit out of the way. As far as I know he didn't do pull lists (not that I had ever heard of that back then) but he did carry most of the Marvel and DC titles and an assortment of indies. I'm guessing I bought more comics on impulse that way, because you do when you actually have them in your hands.

Anyway, he eventually moved to a ever-so-slightly larger town, closer to the university, and took some relatively cheap upstairs shop space. I went there as well, but apparently not a lot of folks did, because he didn't stay in business long after that, and he never reopened his basement store. And that was the end of the LCS in my area, back in the early 90s. If it couldn't happen then, it isn't ever happening.

But if I lived anywhere else, I'd think about it. There are certainly pluses to getting my comics by mail, of course--not having to go out in a blizzard for my fix, for one--but I only get them once a month (you can have them delivered weekly but that's a lot of extra expense, especially considering that I don't get very many comics in the first place), and then there's the delivery time, which is less than a week but not that much less. So, yeah, getting my comics by mail is situational, not preferential. I'm certainly glad that the option exists, of course.

4. Read Blue Beetle at some point.

I've seen bits of it online and it strikes me as a book the kids would like. I'll have to make a point of getting it in trade, assuming it comes out that way.